fled north as fast as they could find deck-room on the crowded ships. There they filled the newspapers with panic-stricken interviews and doleful prophecies that the Canal would never be built, and fervidly quoted this well-known stanza from the works of Gilbert, the poet of Colon.
Beyond the Chagres River,
'T is said (the story's old)
Are paths that lead to mountains
Of purest virgin gold;
But 't is my firm conviction,
Whate'er the tales they tell,
That beyond the Chagres River,
All paths lead straight to Hell!
"There are three diseases in Panama," declared Mr. John L. Stevens, who became chief engineer at this time. "They are yellow fever, malaria, and cold feet; and the greatest of these is cold feet."
But now Dr. Gorgas was given his long-delayed medical supplies, his water-pipes, porch-screens, and plenty of money. Thousands of men were taken from the excavating force to swell the sanitary-squad. Best of all, the new governor of the Canal Zone—to whom the head of the Department of Sanitation was then subordinate—was Mr. Charles E. Magoon, who helped Dr. Gorgas with the greatest good-will and energy.
The first thing was to establish a rigid quarantine at both ports, to prevent new cases being brought in from other countries by sea. Every ship that came from a yellow-fever port was thoroughly fumigated to kill any infected mosquitos that might be on board, and all the
